Angraf M1070 and M1000 1:25

[jaffro]

Originally Posted by Igor

Thanks for detailed explanation, Jaffro

No problem. I learnt most of what I do by reading build threads on forums like this, that's why I like to ramble on about how I do stuff... just in case it helps someone.

Speaking of rambling, time for another massive update, this build is rocketing along now and the end is in sight... 2 parts bags left on the shelf! (After these next few steps)

Picking up where I stepped away from the truck to finish the trailer, here's some pics of the rest of the parts that were built for Step 5, 6 and 9 (7 and 8 were the truck wheels, 10 is driveshafts).

Fuel tanks, air tanks and miscellaneous parts attached to the chassis. No issues here, other than a few shortages in the laser set which is a theme that sticks with nearly every step. I've added mesh here to replace drawn on details for the platform that sits behind the 5th wheel and the steps on the fuel tanks.


Step 11 is the base for the winch operators platform, I forgot to document this properly, which is a pity because the instructions are a bit vague when it comes to placement for some parts. Hopefully my pics of the finished platform in a later step will help there if you're building this. For now, Step 11 and 12 are just a hydraulic tank and the main winch drums. Also added a bit of detail to the hose that comes out of the hydraulic tank.



Next up, winch operators platform...

[jaffro]

Truck Step 13, Winch operators platform. I've been really looking forward to this bit, it's like the business end of the truck, where loads are winched aboard the trailer but they're also used for recovery of vehicles etc, not to mention the salvage company mentioned earlier who uses one of these.

I love building stuff that can be enhanced with laser cut rivets, metal mesh and my favourite picture hanging winch cable. This section has all of the above.

No huge issues here but there are parts missing, both in the laser set and the kit. The kit only provides enough of parts 127a+b+c to build 2 walls for the winch drum housings, you need 4. Easily scratch built though so not a huge deal. The only other real issue I had here was part(s) 116, the base of this structure, was not wide enough to straddle the chassis so I had to pad it out a bit with an extra 1mm added to both sides, part 116, so parts 118 could sit flush with the chassis as intended.

So after neglecting to take pics of the base as I built it, I took pics from every angle of the finished platform, that should be enough to help assemble this section as I couldn't find pics from every angle when checking other builds.

There were more enhancements added here based on reference pics, mostly the mesh parts, but I also customised part 136 to look more like the real thing, it's a holder for spare fuel cans or something, I may scratchbuild something to put in there later.







That's just a dry fit mostly for now, there's more to add but I'll come back to that later.

[jaffro]

Next up was Step14 and 15, the main cabin.

Again, I surged ahead here, forgetting to get pics of the sub-frame, which isn't shown too clearly in the instructions, the main thing to remember is that part 159 goes all the way to the front of parts 160 although the instructions show that it doesn't. The only other notable issue I found here is that part 170a, the inside rear cabin wall is not mirrored as it should be but can be fixed when cutting it out.

Step 14 pics, showing the subframe from all angles...



Step 15 is the cabin interior. I went all out of the scud interior and even with the doors open it's hard to see. The doors don't open on this kit so I decided not to bother enhancing the interior too much on this one. That idea lasted about 15 minutes and I couldn't help myself. The included interior is quite bland and I really didn't like the look of the flat 2D control panel so I cut it up and basically added some stuff to make it a bit more 3D, which led to me wanting to add more stuff, and then more stuff. The seats were also a bit bland, I enhanced them a bit by covering them in toilet paper and painting it on with some very watery white glue, then painted them with the airbrush. They're a bit more messed up than I wanted but they're way better than they were so I'm happy with that. This is where I'm up to now, I'm about ready to put the walls on and add some more stuff based on reference pics.





So this brings me to the point where I have 2 bags of parts left, then just some minor enhancements to add to finish it off... lights, D shackles, minor stuff, then it's on to weathering which will be followed by building myself a bigger house so I have room to display it...

[RafaelDias]

Such a great thread. Its great follow your work

[Igor]

Mesh, rivets and all this little details really enhance this build!

[sharunas]

Keep going!!!

[romanmodels]

good work love the mesh

[jaffro]

Well, I've been slack again and got so excited that I was so close to the end I forgot to document the final stages of the build in photos. The model is complete, I've posted some pics in the Papermodelers facebook group and I'm going to wait for better light to get some more before posting them in here. For now though I'll just post my final update on the build itself and my experiences during the final stages that I forgot to document.

To be honest though, there wasn't much to see, the exterior of the cabin came together without any hassle, there was one issue I noticed though, which was the main windscreen part (224 I think) has a base section that is supposed to be sandwiched between part 165 and 172 which make up the firewall/front dash assembly. If you follow the instructions without looking ahead, you'll have possibly already glued those together, luckily I hadn't. It can be easily fixed though by removing the bottom of part 224.

One MAJOR issue I will mention though, is the final fitting of parts, based on the marked locations on the chassis rails. If I'd started slapping stuff on where it was supposedly meant to go, I would've probably had to pull the whole thing apart. This could be my own fault, but it's worth holding off till the end to mount everything to the chassis. By everything, I mean everything that goes on top, everything underneath fit quite well. I'd already mounted the 5th wheel and guide rails, I think this might be where it was my fault, the 5th wheel had to be moved back a bit, the guide rails possibly have to stick out a bit at the rear, mine are flush and were glued on too well to be moved, check this if you're building this.

The only other "issue" I had was the part(s) I previously mentioned I was not looking forward to. These parts were the front grill (221/223), the exhaust stack (144) and another perforated grille type part that hides the muffler under the cabin (238). These parts all had small rounded holes that needed to be cut and don't look easy. This brings me back to the most frustrating issue with this kit, the laser parts. I do not understand how parts like these weren't included in the laser set and yet, small squares and basic shapes were included. The whole idea of a laser parts set is to provide precisely cut intricate details that are hard to cut accurately by hand, isn't it? Obviously not.

I made sure I had new ink for my printer so I could print copies of these parts as I knew I was going to struggle. I had a few ideas how I was going to tackle it but few of them actually worked. In the end, the easiest way I found to cut the holes for the front grille, was to just cut them by hand with a new blade, but that was the easy one. The exhaust has much smaller holes the same shape which proved almost impossible, I ended up just drilling round holes instead. The one under the cab was a combination of cutting rectangle holes then rounding the ends with a dremel. The results were a bit rough but the front grille turned out pretty well, I also cut out the letters for the Oshkosh emblem on the front, which is spelled wrong in the kit (Oshkosk)



Also, one of the last things I built, and actually photographed, was the pulley for the rear of the trailer. Another part that baffled me by not being laser cut. I could've sworn I'd seen it in the laser set so I held off building it till the end in case I'd accidentally lost the laser parts in another parts bag, which wasn't the case.



So, aside from posting the finished pics, which I'll do later today, this build is complete, just over a year after it began. Again, I wish I'd kept an accurate parts count, out of interest. At a guess, it has over 3500 lasercut rivets and bolts alone.

As far as kits go, it's only my second large scale commercial kit, I was worried by the lack of builds and comments regarding issues in the kit but they were vague and didn't explain in detail, I hope I've provided enough information for anyone planning to build this, it has it's issues but it was a very satisfying build. Most of the issues are in the laser parts set, either not enough parts, too many parts or just parts that should've been laser cut but weren't. The kit itself is not as highly detailed as it could be, some parts are presented as simple flat 2D shapes , eg: the axles are square, but should be round, if I'd noticed that in time, I'd have rounded mine. There are issues with the instructions and diagrams but I think I've addressed all of those, if not, I apologize.

I'm going to build a load for the trailer, and some escort vehicles, but first I'll be returning to my Millennium Falcon that's sitting neglected on the kitchen table. I'm also building a 1/72 plastic kit of this truck and trailer, with an armoured D9R on the back.

Thanks to all who've kept track of this build and provided words of encouragement along the way, hope to see you on the next one.

[eatcrow2]

Inspirational modeling! Super realistic detailing.

[Igor]

Congratz on finishing it!
May you consider to fix the resolution of pictures?
It's hard to see the whole picture when you need to scroll